Handpicked by the unread team

Sanctuary has survived the straight road. Now it must decide what deserves to remain open. Carys Bellweather and Tess remember incompatible versions of the same journey while impossible doors reopen across the city. The authorities answer with Full Lock, and Dirk's help begins to resemble control. The concluding speculative-noir Sanctuary novel and Book 6 in the Dirk Strangelove series by A. N. Mercer. Writing by A. N. Mercer; cover art created with generative AI.

Every door in Sanctuary knows where it is going. Until one goes missing. Carys Bellweather is six days from opening a breakfast room when a door vanishes from the city's shifting geography. Maps begin omitting people, and a perfectly straight road promises certainty at a terrible cost. A speculative-noir Sanctuary novel and Book 5 in the Dirk Strangelove series by A. N. Mercer. Writing by A. N. Mercer; cover art created with generative AI.

A dead man's last letter sends a probationary courier through missing addresses, erased lives and an official story that refuses to stay finished. A speculative-noir Sanctuary novel about bureaucracy, identity and the stories institutions use to decide who counts as real. Book 4 in the Dirk Strangelove series by A. N. Mercer. Writing by A. N. Mercer; cover art created with generative AI.

Fuzz Fox and the Storm Inside by Francis Ferndown is a gentle children's picture book about big feelings, emotional understanding, friendship, patience and kindness. After one difficult morning, small feelings gather inside Fuzz like a grey cloud. When playtime does not go to plan, the cloud grows into a storm. With Olive Owl beside him, Fuzz begins to understand what his feelings are trying to say. Published by The Little Woodlands Feelings Lab for families, carers, early-years settings and primary classrooms. The story text is not AI-generated; the illustrations were created using generative...

The third Dirk Strangelove case file sends a legally dead investigator deeper into Sanctuary, a city where identity, memory and personhood can be reduced to paperwork. Darkly comic, humane and unsettling, On the Other Hand... is for readers of speculative noir, hard-boiled mystery, corporate dystopia and bureaucratic horror. The book is live on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited, in paperback, and as a glossy hardcover.

Every child deserves to know they are special—just as they are.Join Bobby the Squirrel and his woodland friends as they discover that everyone has unique talents, different strengths, and something wonderful to offer the world. As Bobby learns to appreciate what makes him unique, he discovers that true confidence comes from being himself.With warm storytelling, beautiful watercolor illustrations, and meaningful life lessons, Bobby the Squirrel Loves to Be Himself encourages children to build self-confidence, celebrate differences, practice kindness, and believe in themselves.Perfect for chil...

This book contains inspirational prose and poetry meant to encourage and uplift. I write from the heart with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. We have had a creative partnership for many years. I write for the lost or broken souls to show them they are not alone. We are all on a journey and should encourage each other daily.

Show children that staying active is one of the best ways to care for their bodies—and have fun doing it!Join Bobby the Squirrel and his woodland friends as they spend the day running, climbing, jumping, stretching, and exploring the outdoors. Through active play, Bobby learns that moving his body helps him become stronger, healthier, and ready for every new adventure.Featuring charming watercolor illustrations and easy-to-understand lessons, Bobby the Squirrel Loves to Exercise encourages young readers to enjoy movement, build confidence, and appreciate all the amazing things their bodies c...

A peaceful bedtime story that reminds children why sleep is one of the greatest gifts they can give their growing bodies.As the sun sets over the forest, Bobby the Squirrel and his woodland friends settle into their bedtime routines and discover how a good night's sleep helps them wake up refreshed, energized, and ready for a brand-new day of adventures.Filled with beautiful watercolor illustrations and gentle encouragement, Bobby Loves to Sleep helps children understand why bedtime matters while creating positive feelings about healthy sleep habits.Perfect for children ages 3–8, this comfor...

Help your child discover that healthy eating can be a wonderful adventure!Join Bobby the Squirrel and his woodland friends as they learn how colorful fruits, crunchy vegetables, wholesome grains, and nutritious foods help their bodies grow big and strong. Along the way, Bobby discovers that making healthy choices gives him the energy to play, learn, explore, and enjoy every day.With beautiful watercolor illustrations, lovable woodland friends, and simple age-appropriate lessons, Bobby Loves to Eat introduces young readers to healthy eating in a positive and encouraging way without fear, pressu...

This is a poetry book full of bible verses sprinkled throughout the book . This was written with the whispered power of the Holy Spirit to help the lost and broken souls of humanity. It is my hope this book reveals the beauty and simplicity of life and Christ love for us. This book takes you on a journey of which when you return you will be different, stronger in spirit and character. This is a book of hope, encouragement  and inspiration. This book contains inspirational and philosophical poems and stories that I feel everyone can relate to and use on a daily basis. As a Christian I beli...

As you look around your neighborhood, look at your family and search within; Is your soul crying out for peace and quiet because you are overwhelmed by the noise of the world and troubled by what you see and hear.The answers you seek may be within the pages of this book.Have you ever wondered; Am I special? May I have a moment of your time? Take a chance and open this book.Within these pages you will find out what makes an ordinary life powerful, rich and special? It is not what you think it is.Will you join Author Lisa C. Miller along her journey as she continues to learn about livi...

In the wild hinterlands of Sherman County, Florida, a plane crash interrupts the dawn, pitching seasoned cowhands Max Blair and Cletus into a tumultuous chain of events. As law enforcement descends, local legacies and lore emerge, ensnaring them in a web of conspiracy and suspicion. Grappling with moral dilemmas, loyalty, and betrayal, Max, Cletus, and Freddy must unearth truths shrouded in the Floridian swamps. Their rugged lives clash against the encroaching shadows of outside forces, and Max's fraught lineage puts his family legacy at stake. As whispers of past sins and redemption swirl lik...

Are you ready to break free from the endless cycle of diets, disappointment, and quick-fix solutions? Mindset Makeover is your essential guide to transforming your approach to weight loss by addressing the root cause: your mindset.Written by S.C. Watson—a trained chef, certified nutritionist, and behavioral change specialist who has lost over 200 pounds herself—this workbook goes beyond food and fitness to help you conquer the emotional and behavioral barriers that stand between you and lasting success.Weight loss is often portrayed as a simple equation: eat less, move more. But for anyone...

186 quick, healthy, and budget-friendly recipes — plus free access to hundreds more online!Tired. Broke. Hungry. Welcome to adulthood — where the real struggle is deciding between cooking dinner or just going to bed.Too Tired to Chew is your culinary survival guide for those days when life’s chaos leaves you running on caffeine and sarcasm. Created by S.C. Watson, a certified nutritionist, chef, and behavioral change specialist who lost over 200 pounds by ditching the diet drama, this book is packed with real-life recipes for real-life exhaustion — no fancy equipment, no overpriced ing...

For more than a century, Saint Orison's Asylum has stood abandoned on a cliff above the sea.Its windows are black.Its doors are chained.And every local knows the same rule:Never enter after sunset.When restoration architect Elias Vale is hired to document the ruined asylum before it is demolished, he expects decaying corridors, forgotten patient records, and the ordinary horrors of a Victorian institution.Instead, he discovers something buried beneath the hospital.Something older than the asylum.Older than the town.Older, perhaps, than the church that was built to imprison it.Behind a wall of ...

Dirk Strangelove has spent years surviving Sanctuary's machinery of faith, bureaucracy and compromised memory. When answers begin arriving to questions he was safer leaving alone, he is forced into a darkly comic speculative-noir investigation of identity, free will and the systems that decide which version of the truth survives. The second Dirk Strangelove novel can be read after Die Twice, File Once or as a standalone entry into Sanctuary. The novel is entirely human-written by A. N. Mercer. The cover artwork was created with generative-AI assistance.

For the past three years, attractive women with criminal records have been vanishing from Sydney – prostitutes, drifters, those with nowhere to turn. The mastermind behind their disappearances has always stayed one step ahead, leaving no trace . . . until now.Detective Billie McCoy, part of Sydney's elite undercover squad, stumbles onto a shocking slavery ring while on what should have been a routine assignment. Run by a ruthless cop, the operation drags Billie into a web of corruption far deeper than she could ever imagine.Trapped among prisoners who trust no one – ex-crims who despise co...

The fifth and final part of the fantasy series, ‘Heart Stone’.
Across the worlds the war for the Heart Stones rages. The united minotaur clans of Dainnor clash with the Kingdom of Lors; on Tarnasus, Lord Edrigu prepares to crush Akil’s rebellion and on the Twins, the people begin to slowly open their eyes to the truths that surround them. The Guardians – powerful magi entrusted with the protection of their worlds – face their own trials as each of them await the call of the Demiurge to unleash the sethundra.

Part 4 of the fantasy series, ‘Heart Stone’.“Food for every belly, jobs for every citizen and a roof over every head. This is what the Republic has brought the citizens of Crystal City. So remember, be thankful!”Crystal City, a name that conjures an image that sparkles and shines, but now a cloud hangs over this once fair place. The people huddle in street corners, looking for meagre shelter from the almost constant downpours, children hide from gangs of nabbers, and the mysterious voids walk the streets, seemingly oblivious to all that surrounds them.Katy and Dylan find themselves on ...

Part 3 of the fantasy series, ‘Heart Stone’.
As forces on the world of Tarnasus begin to gather against each other, the three sethundra, Artemis, Baccus and Dardanus leave to bring word to the remaining Guardians that they are in danger of coming under attack from the mysterious Brethren.
Meanwhile, Katy and Dylan flee the Academy at Sky Rock, only to find themselves on a new world where they are forced into facing a destiny that neither expected or wanted.
And hidden in the Vale of Glamorgan, the residents of the village of Carreg-y-galon prepare themselves for war.

Part 2 of the fantasy series, Heart Stone.

“By ancient Pact, by oath of fire, I claim entrance to the Academy of Sky Rock.”

With the news of the death of his wife, a grief-stricken Paul returns to the Welsh village of Carreg-y-galon, determined to be a proper father, and to settle down and build a home for his children, Katy and Dylan. But he does not receive the welcome he’d been expecting. He finds that his in-laws’ home has been attacked, Bryn talks of magi, Guardians and Heart Stones and worst of all, Katy and Dylan have vanished.
And then he meets the sethundra.

“In the absence of control, chaos will reign and that freedom of thought and deed will open the door for whatever may lurk beyond it to enter.”The Directorate, a land in which people can live in peace without fear of crime or war or famine: as long as they do not ask any questions. The Most Esteemed Grants Committee keep a rigorous control of scientific and technological advancement and anyone daring to create a work of pure fiction would soon find themselves under the close scrutiny of the Inquisition.But Why? What is the Directorate trying to hide?When Tobias Maunfeld, a young inventor, ...

The scene was set, the lights were lit and the audience waited in eager anticipation for the drama that was about to unfold in the Woody Meadow Players latest production “Death Comes to Creedal Manor”. Little did they suspect that a real crime was about to be committed before their very eyes – and not just one to the performing arts.

Death was on the bill.

“Have you ever caught a movement out of the corner of your eye, but when you looked, there was nothing there?”Grandad’s stories were the best, far better than anything Dylan had ever seen written down in a book. But when one evening Grandad tells him about the mysterious sethundra both Dylan and his older sister Katy discover something they didn’t expect.Every story their grandfather had ever told them was true.With no warning, they find themselves set upon a path to unravel the mysteries of their own family and caught up in a desperate struggle that will not only decide their fate, bu...

Some doors should never be opened. Some stories refuse to stay buried.In this chilling collection of short fiction, the familiar twists into the unsettling and the ordinary slips quietly into nightmare. A decaying house whispers to those who dare cross its threshold. A creature glimpsed in the dark woods may be more than just legend. An urban myth begins to bleed into reality with terrifying consequences. And in the deepest corners of the human mind, something far more insidious waits to emerge.Blending haunted spaces, cryptids, urban legends, and psychological dread, these stories explore the...

The paperwork says Dirk Strangelove is dead. Sanctuary still expects him at work. When a missing factory worker draws him into a system that edits memories, reassigns names and treats personhood as company property, Dirk must decide how much of himself he can trade before the record becomes permanent. A darkly funny speculative noir for readers of hard-boiled mysteries, corporate dystopias and identity thrillers.

Before wildland firefighters were seen as heroes, they were cursed, threatened, and run off from the very communities they were trying to save. In Before We Were Heroes: Southern Fires, Bill Beebe a 30-year veteran forester and firefighter who served on National Type 1 Incident Management Teams across Arkansas, Alaska, and the nation pulls backthe curtain on an untold chapter of American history. This isn't the version told at retirement banquets. This is the raw, gripping story of a brotherhood forged not in glory, but in grit. From the sweltering swamps of eastern Arkansas to the remote wild...

In the isolated town of Hollow Creek, people have started smiling.Not laughing. Not grinning.Smiling.At first, it seems harmless. A cashier holds a smile a little too long. A teacher stands motionless outside her classroom with her lips stretched impossibly wide. Neighbors stop speaking altogether, choosing instead to watch from their windows with the same expression.Then the disappearances begin.When bestselling true-crime journalist Ethan Hale returns to his hometown after twenty years, he discovers something impossible: every victim was last seen smiling.The deeper Ethan digs, the more he u...

Emma Brooks has spent years helping strangers tell their stories.As the owner of a cozy neighborhood coffee shop, she's become the unofficial therapist, matchmaker, and keeper of everyone's secrets—except her own.Lucas Carter, a bestselling travel journalist, has returned to town after ten years away. His career has taken him across the world, but the one conversation he regrets walking away from happened in this small café... with Emma.Now fate seats them across from each other every morning.Their conversations begin politely.Then become playful.Then dangerously honest.Between forgotten dr...

What if you could relive your teenage years knowing everything you know today?At forty-seven, Nathan Brooks has accumulated a lifetime of regrets, missed opportunities, and memories he wishes he could change, but then the impossible happens. He wakes up thirteen years old again in 1987, armed with decades of memories and the chance to live his life over.At first, it feels like a dream come true as Nathan gets to see his parents while they're still young, reconnect with old friends, and experience the sights, sounds, and excitement of the late 1980s all over again. Most importantly, he has anot...

Richard K.A. Kletting Born in Germany in 1858, Richard Karl August Kletting was educated and trained in the classics, engineering and architecture in his homeland before moving to Paris where, at age twenty-one, he was employed as a draftsman on three of the City of Light's most impressive Second Empire, Beaux Arts monuments. After serving a year in the German Army, Kletting followed his brother, Oscar, to the United States and they both traveled westward, settling in Utah in 1883. The day after he arrived in Salt Lake City, Richard was hired by architect, John Haven Burton, and together ...

After discovering Mattie's fenced grave in Yellowstone National Park, author Nan Weber followed her own curiosities through four years of research to trace the steps of this mystery woman's spirited life. The result is the inspiring story of a strong woman trying to better her life during difficult times.

128 pages; 5.25x8.25 inches; 28 b&w photographs; maps & illustrations; appendix; trade paper. Updated new edition. $16.95

Ten years after the sudden death of his husband, Jack Bell has built a quiet life on the French Riviera. His routine is settled, and his grief is managed. Until he runs into an old flame.

Their reunion feels like a second chance at happiness. But as the days pass, the coincidences begin to stack up. What begins as a rekindled romance quickly turns into a desperate struggle for survival. As the shadows of the past close in, Jack is forced to piece together a terrifying puzzle: is he falling in love again, or is he falling into a trap?

This first book in the series "A Quest for Ancient Wisdom" also serves as a prequel to Rhuna's adventures. In the ancient, mystical past when an idyllic Atlantis-like civilization flourished, its people with exceptional powers could build giant stone structures like the Pyramids, and transform elements such as sand to stone and metal to gold with concentrated energy of the mind. This utopian Atlan Empire is rocked when one of its most preeminent Masters rebels and seeks to subvert the ideals of Atlan society. Roaming the countryside in a black robe, misusing his powers on innocent people,...

The death of a pope always creates a power vacuum. Even external forces will use the opportunity to attack once they get the chance.

On the other side of Rome, a wounded friar arrives at a Lutheran church with vital evidence of a conspiracy. The young pastor is dragged into an intricate web of lies, deceit and bloodshed, all the while dealing with his own personal demons.

As such, the fate of more than just the Vatican lies in the hands of someone they consider a heretic.

Cassandra has spent her life as the Council's weapon, feared for the pain she can inflict and trusted to extract secrets no one else can reach. But when she is sent to interrogate Nikolas, a captive dragon bound by his sister's control, one touch shatters the spells holding him—and opens a portal to a realm long believed lost.Stranded in Fabeldyrverden, Cassandra must navigate a world of ancient dragons, dangerous prophecy, and a mate bond she never expected. Nikolas may have escaped his sister's chains, but the truth he carries could ignite a war between realms.Across the world, Arianna has...

Alessandra Bianchi thought her life would be ordinary again after long ER nights—until a brutal, silent stranger rolls into her ER, claims she's his mate, and disappears. Evan O'Brien returns to consciousness miles from home with his body smeared in another's blood and a fragmented memory of torture. He tracks the only perfect match he can scent to a small-town nurse, and the moment their eyes meet, the world they both knew fractures.Caught between community rules that bind loyalties and predators who want Hawthorne—the ancient shifter hiding a secret that could change everything—Alessan...

Catriona Sullivan never meant to be anyone's epic fate. She's a wandering bartender, thirty‑something, with a knack for tripping over cookie tables and a life she hasn't bothered to plan. When a near‑mythic best man at a wedding stops her heart with a look and then disappears for months, her ordinary loneliness turns into obsession—and into danger.Jace McFadden is three centuries of regret in a handsome, controlled shell. He has avoided bonds and death for years—until he meets Cat and discovers a truth the Community dare not ignore: she may be his Blood Affinity. But Amanda, a cruel va...

When Millicent Calderwood finally receives the keys to the home she loved as a child, she expects dust and memories-not a floating man in a red mist and a web of old magic that reaches for her head. But the estate won't wait: a revenant keeps replaying the witch's cruelty, an imp hunts in the edges of town, and the people who shepherd her new life insist she's the only one who can finish what was started centuries ago.Thrown into a world of ritual, reluctant alliances, and slow-burning desire, Millie must learn rites from a housekeeper who is older than anyone should be and trust a brooding ca...